CREST Awards

Each year, over 32,000 CREST Awards are undertaken by 11-to-19-year-olds, giving them opportunities to explore real-world science, technology, engineering and maths projects in an exciting way.

CREST is a UK award scheme that recognises success, and enables students to build their skills and demonstrate personal achievement in project work. It offers educators an easy-to-run framework for curriculum enhancement and is student-led, which means that young people take ownership of their projects and choose to undertake them in areas they enjoy or see as relevant.

Levels

There are four different levels of CREST Award:

Discovery (a great first introduction to project work, these take about five hours and can be done in one day; typically undertaken by 11-to-14-year-olds)

The British Science Association are piloting a new programme to enable and encourage students from all backgrounds to participate in the CREST Awards scheme.

We will provide support and up to £300 worth of funding for schools and organisations to run CREST Awards for the first time, as well as to enable those familiar with CREST to broaden the reach to more underrepresented students.

Further information and resources

Project ideas can be created by students, teachers, organisations or local businesses – ideally the decision should be student-led, so that they choose a topic they are interested in investigating. Have a look at our overview of CREST resources and get some tips about how to support your students.

CREST Awards can be undertaken at school or college, within an after school club or youth group setting, or by participating in one of our accredited link schemes.

Once students have completed their project work, they are individually assessed and successful students will receive a personalised certificate.

Benefits

In addition to giving young people the opportunity to undertake hands-on science, CREST Awards also build skills that are transferrable to other subjects, further education and future employment (time management, project management, teamwork, communication).

You can use CREST to enhance your personal statement on your UCAS form.

One of our CREST Youth Panel members, Floriane Fidegnon, was lucky enough to be the youth speaker at the Grand Challenges Conference, hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Here she spills all about the experience and has an important message for scientists and researchers...